Wednesday, July 23, 2014

While I believe that home-made energy bars are nutritionally superior to anything store bought, sometimes I just don't have time to prepare my own ride fuel. For this reason, it is always good to have back-up.

Recently I came across Kit's Organic bars. I like these bars for multiple reasons:

1. USDA organic. No GMO's in here!

2. Short ingredient list. Not a bunch of crap fillers. The Peanut Butter bar contains dates, peanuts, almonds, and sea salt and the Cashew bar contains cashews, almonds, dates, and sea salt. All organic of course!

3. Clif Bar is a good company. The folks at Clif Bar donate a sizable amount of money in support of GMO labeling. This is something I pay attention to and influences my purchasing decisions.

4. I try to stick to the >1:10 grams of fiber/ gram of carbohydrate rule when buying packaged food. At 4 grams of fiber and 25 g of carbs, Kit's Organic easily falls into that range.

5. They taste good. Yum!

Another ride fuel favorite is baby food. Yes, you read that correctly. I sometimes eat baby food on my rides. There are lots of organic brands to choose from. I usually grab something with pumpkin, squash, brown rice, or sweet potato and fruit. Calorie content is comparable to an energy gel; 60-110 calories/packet, however since baby food is made from organic whole food, I am assuming it is more nutritionally dense. What I like about baby food packets is that they easily fit in my pocket, are resealable, and are perfect when I just need a little calorie boost to get me home from a ride.

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About Me

I have raced as a professional mountain biker since 2006. On January 25, 2011, at the age of 35, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer (Grade 3, ER/PR+, Her2-). I was scared. I didn't know any young women, let alone athletes, who had ever had breast cancer. Prior to cancer, my proudest cycling achievements are finishing 7th at the TransAlp Challenge in 2007, Utah State Champion-Pro 2007, Breck Epic 3rd overall 2009, and 2nd overall Lumberjack 100 in 2010.
In 2012, after 4 surgeries and 4 months of chemo, I returned to mountain bike racing determined to compete at an elite level. With a mantra of being kind to my body and making no excuses, a new emphasis on nutrition, and a large dose of determination, I competed in over 25 mountain bike races and was able to finish the season as the Utah State Championship Series overall Pro Women winner. In 2013 after a strong start to the race season, the unthinkable happened. I was diagnosed with an axillary recurrence which means 3 lymph nodes in my arm pit were found to have cancer. After more surgery, chemo, radiation, and an oophorectomy, I am officially in remission and am chasing dreams for comeback #2!